Farmer Discovers Huge Oil Spill Bubbling Up in His Wheat Fields

The spill covered 7.3 acres

A farmer discovered an oil spill in his wheat filed that covered 7.3 acres on Sept. 29.

The spill, which was roughly the size of seven football fields, was discovered by North Dakota farmer Steve Jensen while he was harvesting wheat. The spill came from a leaking Tesoro (TSO) pipe. When the spill was discovered, Jensen said that oil was bubbling up to six inches above the ground. It’s estimated that 20,600 barrels worth of oil leaked from the pipeline. State officials took 12 days to tell the public about the spill after is was reported by Jensen and North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple wasn’t told about the spill until Wednesday. He is currently investigating how the state deals with reporting oil spills. Jensen said that he had already harvested most off the wheat from that field before the spill, but that he won’t be able to use it again to grow crops for several years, reports ABC News.

The cleanup of the oil is estimated to cost $4 million. Crews have currently recovered 1,285 barrels of oil and are being monitored by state and federal regulators.